‘The 100’ season 5 trailer released: The battle for Eden begins

"What the hell, let's be good guys."

The 100 season 5 premieres on April 24, 2018, and the first trailer promises an epic adventure unlike anything we’ve seen so far.

It’s been six years since Praimfaya destroyed the world (again) and the heroes of The 100 got separated. Octavia’s newly-formed Wonkru went underground; Bellamy, Raven, Emori, Murphy, Harper, Monty and Echo went back to the Ark, and Clarke stayed behind alone on the surface, only to find another survivor: a Nightblood child named Madi, whom Clarke has adopted as her own.

It feels like six years have passed since the season 4 finale, and the season 5 premiere episode “Eden,” which airs Tuesday, April 24 at 9/8c on The CW, still seems very far away. (In fact, we’re just over a month out — can you believe it?!)

In The 100 season 5, we’ll see our heroes find their way back to each other, in some cases sooner rather than later. But — of course, because this is The 100 — things won’t go the way anyone expects.

Especially because a new group of Sky People — pre-war prisoners who were sent into space more than 100 years ago — have returned to Earth intending to claim the last patch of survivable land for themselves. And they’re not willing to share…

Without further ado, here’s the first trailer for The 100 season 5:

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Where to even begin? Perhaps with Clarke and Madi, whose relationship is set to be a key emotional anchor point for the show moving forward.

However and whenever they met (hopefully we’ll find out soon!), these two characters are clearly each other’s family now, with Clarke expressing actual joy — I know, I was shocked too! — when hugging her in the wasteland under what are hopefully happy circumstances. (One also might wonder why/for how long they’ve been separated, before this reunion occurs.)

Based on this trailer alone, it seems like fans can expect to get very invested in the Madi-Clarke dynamic, which (as we’ll get to later) surprisingly appears to involve Octavia as well!

At the start of the season, Clarke and Madi stand alone against the Eligius crew, fighting for the home they’ve built for themselves.

Eligius, it appears, are not interested in negotiating: led by Charmaine Diyoza (Ivana Milicevic) and Paxton ‘Graveyard’ McCreary (William Miller), this new faction arrived aboard a prison transport ship which left Earth pre-apocalypse; the characters, therefore, are our near-contemporaries and enter the world of The 100 with worldviews and values that more closely resemble our own. (Translation: they’re monsters.)

We’ve heard a lot of good things about both of these newcomers, along with the briefly glimpsed Zeke Shaw (Jordan Bolger), but Charmaine definitely steals the spotlight in this trailer. Ruthless, determined, yet seemingly weary of her task, I predict she’s going to be one of the season’s standout characters.

Meanwhile Bellamy, Raven, Murphy, Monty, Echo, Harper and Emori are stranded in space, in close proximity to the darkened Eligius ship, debating what to do. As has been hinted in interviews and at conventions, this group appears to have become as much of a found family as Clarke and Madi, becoming their own ‘kru’ up in space and, it would appear, functioning more like a democracy than any other faction we’ve seen so far.

Indeed, based on Monty’s musing about whether they even deserve to survive (very reminiscent of Abby’s standpoint in season 2) and Murphy’s already-iconic line, “What the hell, let’s be good guys,” it appears we’ll be seeing a sharp contrast between Bellamy and Octavia’s leadership philosophies, leading to major tension (and uh, bloody violence?) between them.

But it looks like Octavia and Bellamy somehow find their way to the same side after all, however reluctantly, in the fight against Eligius, marching together across the desert with the Wonkru army. Even though their relationship is clearly still tension-filled, Indra reminds Octavia here that, “your brother loves you.”

Of course it seems Octavia will have conflicts with more people than just her brother. As teased at the Unity Days convention in January, Octavia is going to struggle as the leader of Wonkru, and it seems her solution is violence (surprise!).

Some kind of #toosweet cage fighting appears to be happening inside the bunker, with Kane being one of the contestants… seemingly not by choice. Is this a Gladiator kind of situation, where people are forced to fight for entertainment/population control? Are the Grounders trying to steal the power? Or is this the solution Octavia has found for clans/individuals to settle their disputes: the victor wins the argument? Whatever is happening, Kane does not approve.

But however dark cannibalkru Wonkru is poised to get, what this trailer seems to suggest (whether that’s misleading or not of course remains to be seen) is that Octavia appears to be doing everything, even the ‘wrong’ things, for the right reasons.

She truly seems to believe in Wonkru, and unlike in season 4, where her violence was self-destructive and cruel, she appears to be using violence now to keep a form of ‘peace.’ Octavia as a leader might perhaps resemble a season 1 Bellamy more than we realize: trying, and perhaps failing, but ultimately wanting the best for those she considers her people.

On a less murdery note, Gaia and Indra have a sweet moment in the trailer too (who else is stoked that Gaia is sticking around?), and we get brief moments between the series’ current established relationships: Kane and Abby, Harper and Monty, Murphy and Emori and of course Miller and Jackson (!).

While we know it’s unlikely that all the couples will stay together, all these relationships — at the point of the season where these moments are pulled from, anyway — appear to be intact, or at least still emotionally connected.

Although the trailer carefully does not show Clarke reuniting with any of the other characters, we know from the above image (which wasn’t in the trailer, but a still from 4×05 released by Jason Rothenberg) that Clarke is with Octavia and Bellamy before or during their time in the desert.

In fact, based on this image, Clarke and Bellamy already reunite in Polis, after (or maybe even before) the bunker has been opened. But under what circumstances? And is Madi with them? We just don’t know.

Speaking of Madi: of the moments that particularly piqued my interest in this trailer was the scene glimpsed between Clarke, Octavia and Madi, possibly inside the bunker, in which Octavia is cutting Madi’s hand. This gesture that has previously been used on the show to make a deal or show off the color of a person’s blood.

The idea of Clarke, Octavia and Madi working together in any capacity is very exciting, and brings up so many questions (including how Octavia’s current relationships with Kane, Abby and Bellamy might affect Clarke’s opinion of her). Whatever the reason these three are joining forces, I think we can all agree that it is high time Octavia and Clarke had some new scenes together! I’m very, very stoked about the possibilities, and how Madi fits into the plot of season 5.

There are many more small, probably significant moments that will give us plenty to speculate about until the series premieres on April 24. Here are some questions that might help spark the discussion:

Burning questions from ‘The 100’ season 5 trailer:

What is crawling inside that guy’s stomach?!

How do Octavia and co. get out of the bunker? Is that Bellamy’s doing?

Does Bellamy initially return to the ground alone? Do they all go? Or do some of them end up staying behind on the Eligius ship?

What could possibly explain why Bellamy and Octavia come to literal blows?

Who is Kane fighting? Is it Jaha?

And since when is Jaha in a position to whisper into Octavia’s ear?

Who is that dark-haired woman kicking ass in the fighting ring?

Why are Murphy and Bellamy fighting on the ship? Or are they training?

When Murphy leaves the others behind, is he heading to the ground or to the Eligius ship? And is Raven/someone else going with him?

What happens if/when the sleeping prisoners on the Eligius ship wake up?

How does Charmaine get her hands on Clarke’s sketchbook, and why does she specifically tear up the picture of Octavia? Has she been observing bunkerkru, or has someone fed her information about them (either willingly or by force)?

…But everyone new favourite character is still gonna be Charmaine, yes/yes?

Who does Clarke shoot at the end of the trailer, and why?

What DOES Monty’s algae porridge taste like?

The 100 season 5 premieres on April 24, which gives us just over a month to speculate and digest all of this juicy new information.

Note that The 100 cast and crew will also be appearing at WonderCon 2018, and during the panel on March 23, a “special video presentation” will be screened which Jason Rothenberg claims will be “even better” than the trailer. (HOW?!) Hypable writer Pamela Gocobachi will be attending to report on everything that happens, so stay tuned!

Here is the official synopsis of The 100 season 5:

“For four seasons, THE 100 have fought to survive. That fight has torn them apart, turned them against each other, and taken the lives of their closest friends. Season Four introduced our heroes to the harsh truth that the human race is doomed to face an unbeatable enemy: the remaining nuclear reactors on Earth have melted down and are setting the atmosphere on fire. Our heroes had very little time to prepare for the worst, with every possible solution disappearing almost as quickly as they were able to come up with them. With a literal countdown to the end of the world, our heroes will be forced to go to unimaginable lengths to make it out alive – with or without each other. In the aftermath of Praimfaya, they must begin again, and with Season Five our heroes will have to examine their responsibility to the new place they call home, and the future generations who will inhabit it. Can they begin again and celebrate what remains, or will the frailties of human nature cost them their one chance to rise from the ashes?”

Are you looking forward to ‘The 100’ season 5?

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